Of Cabbages and Kings
by Haru69
Summary: Its been six years since Hiccup left Berk and things have been peaceful. But black clouds loom over the horizon, and war has come to the lands. Two armies have risen and Hiccup has landed himself right in the center of the conflict. Can Hiccup and Toothless survive? RATING MAY CHANGE. (Hiccup/OMC.) Ver. 2.0 will either be Astrid or OFC pairing. If you want one or another tell me.
1. Yet Another

_'Dragon Speech'_

'Regular Speech'

**Yet Another**

Black smoke rose up in thick waves to the sky, choking out the sun and turning the clouds gray. What remained of the once small village was the charred remains of the houses and the people. Hiccups lips were pressed into a thin white line as he took in the grim sight, a gust of wind and part of a charred house fell. Toothless landed near silent beside him,

_"Y-you humans. N-n-ot even the w-welps were sp-spared."_

_"Toothless," _Hiccup greeted, _"have you seen anything in the sky?"_

The dragon growled, pawing at the ash covered ground_. "Yesss, a l-large nest o-of them, t-t-to the n-north. They d-drag the surviving fe-females a-and w-welps in m-metal ca-ages. T-the m-males are m-made to w-walk. M-more m-metal a-around t-the n-ne-necks a-and h-hands."_

Hiccup hissed in anger. They were in the upper sections of E`ei , a harsh desert country that has little plants and less water. Putting people in metal cages and bindings, they would be bruned alive.

_"How far north are they?" _Hiccup asked with urgencey, if they weren't too far, mabey he coud just...

Toothless gave a sharp smile. _" A-about sss-ix t-tails i-into the s-ssands."_

Hiccup tilted his head, caculating the distance and time it would talke to catch up to the group, asuming that they weren't traveling all that quickly. A bloood thirsty grin spread across his face.

_"How about we go hunting, my friend." _

Toothless growled in approval.

Jumping on to the saddle Hiccup gripped the hard leather as Toothless took to the sky with a hunting cry. This had been the fourth village to be burnt to the ground this month alone, and Hiccup still had no idea why. The only thing that connected them was what happened to the people after. The men were eather sold into slavery or used for food for the dragons that destroyed the village. The woman had the same fate, but, not before the men had some... fun. Hiccup still did not know what happened to the whelps they captured, and a part of him didnt want to find out. The, killings, had started two summers ago and at first it had just been a village here and they. Which in all honesty wasnt that big, but then the killings speed up. Four to ten villages in a month alone, that kind of destruction only happened in wars. And no countries were waring with each other. And even if they were, the killings were spread out over serval different countries. No one country or kingdom was targeted.

It was baffling.

Hiccup was determined to find out why.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Dragon"_

"human"

FOUND

Hiccup dug his trembling hands into the thick leather of the saddle. Hissing and growling profanities at the caravan below had come upon the group during the high sun four tales in , dragging the rotting corpses of the men and some of the woman on hastily built carts. All but two of the pups had been killed and some of the prettier village woman. Hiccup very much doubted that the woman would want anything more than a quick death. He had witnessed a few of the more broken ones deliberately provoke their captors.

"_Worthless little worms_." Hiccup spat. Toothless hissed his agreement, " _T-t-the w-worms s-should b-b-be p-put in t-t-t-their place. B-bled and r-roasted li-like a s-stuck pig_." Hiccup nodded. Leveling a narrowed eye stare at the metal cage that was holding the pups and women. The metal was burning them, made worse was the fact that they wore no garments. His hands dug further into the saddle.

"_Brother, the pups_?"

Toothless flared his nostrils in answer, scenting the wind. " _M-male and f-f-female, o-only a f-f-few su-summers old_." He took another whiff and growled. " _T-t-they a-a-are bo-both injured, the f-f-female pup i-is s-sick… s-s-she will n-n-need great h-healing, ot-otherwise…_"

Hiccup swiftly unhooked the bow from his back, grabbing and notching one of the arrows from a quiver attached to the dragons side. "_Get as close to the ground as you can, cause as much havoc as you can and i'll grab the pups. Spare the woman. They can decide for themselves if they want to live or not. As much as i hate to admit it, we don't have the time to do much more." _They were already two days overdue, and the pups would put them behind even further. Flying straight when injured in anyway would only make the problem worse.

Toothless nodded, tensing his wings.

"_T-the Q-Q-Queen will nn-not b-b-be ha-happy b-brother_."

Hiccup grimaced , no she would not.

SAVED

Fire and sand exploded around them. Shouts and screams rang through their ears. The cage was toppled and they could only stare in fear and awe as one of the most rarest of dragons rained hell fury down upon their captors. Then a masked man appeared, covered in black and a bow strapped to his back, sword in hand. Growling at them and gesturing them away from the bars of the cage. They complied and soon the wall came down. He immediately went to the children and cradled them in his arms. One brave woman shouted in denial, begging the man to spare at least let the children live.

"They will not be harmed." His voice was gravelly, as if unused to speech. "They will be safe." And the woman saw how he held them. Kind, gently, and mindful of the children's injuries. She looked into his eyes then, greener than a fresh pasture in spring, and filled with kindness and sorrow. Protector. Is what she thought, this man was a protector, a chieftain. The man nodded to her, a whispered sorry and he was gone. The women watched silently as he mounted the black devil and took to the skies.

Smoke and fire and the smell of burning flesh was all that was left in his wake.

WATCHER

A man with a shock of red hair puffed on his pipe, gazing at the slowly retreating figure on the sky line. His men picking through the mass of bodies for any survivors, some of them tending to the females. Giving help to those who wanted it, and offering a blade to those who did not. He hummed sadly as all but one walked off into the rolling hills of sand, though he did not blame them for it.

"Sir, we have found two."

The man took one last pull from the pipe, a sadistic grin covering his face as he exhaled the smoke. "Well then, shall we get to work?"

He took one last long look at the horizon. The general would need to know about this.


	3. Chapter 3

"Human"

"_dragon"_

'mind speech/thoughts'

MISTY MOUNTAINS

The wind was cold and damp, echoing and moaning through the mountain peaks. A wild river roared beneath him. Churning ice and stone and any unfortunate soul to have fallen in. He gripped the pups tighter. Eyes narrowed and body tensed. Stiffening furthur when a rock fell from a cliff face. Toothless growled, small licks of flames falling from his jaw as they continued to glide through the ravine.

Oh how he hated this place. Filled with darkness and cold and the stench of death. Skeletons of trees and houses and animals and _humans _ littering the land. The cursed lands. Home to sva'rt hekss. The black witch.

They had only breached the outer territory of Her land, and already he could feel Her watching them. He shuddered, hissing a warning when he felt Her magic wash over them. The pups whimpering at the feeling. Like cold oil sliding over their skin.

Hiccup growled. He hated dealing with witches. They had gained their power through a blessing from a god. A god that was willing to share their powers with a mortal because they had amused them. And all of them had gone insane from it. The gods did not care for humans, and they never would. After all, what is an ant to a man? And the witches took on the mentality after a few years. Demanding payment for their _services. _Some money, others quests, and as for sva'rt hekss…

'My, my. Child of Loki come to see little old me. How… _**delightful**_.' Hiccup jerked and hissed in displeasure, as Her harsh voice echoed in his mind.

'Get out of my head old hag. I come for your healing. Nothing more.' Mad, cackling laughter filled his mind.

'Of course little princeling. Though your third _**favor **_will have quite the price.'

Hiccup tensed and released a ferocious growl. "I will pay your price when they are healed witch!" A snort of laughter was his answer.

'Then come princeling. His heirs must not die before him. What would the future hold then?'

Hiccup swore under his breath and urged his brother to fly faster. He had forgotten how annoying her most treasured ability was. As well as the cost she paid for having it.

Seeing the future is what drove her mad in the first place.


End file.
